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“What do you think? It’s not too plain, is it?”
Fuck.
Gwen was standing in the entrance of the changing rooms, dressed in a form-fitting, bright pink dress. It was about mid-thigh length on her, layered with organza that rucked along the seams. The sleeves were organza as well, see through, and came down to her wrists.
“You’re supposed to wait untilafterthe date to seduce me, my gorgeous girl,” Ambrosius said.
The smile she sent him could have melted his corneas.
“It has hidden pockets. I just need some shoes, accessories, and a lip, and I’ll be all set!”
The rest of her items were easy enough to find. Gwen managed to apply enough makeup to be up to her standards, and found a pair of black heeled boots before the store closed. Paying was easy enough, as Ambrosius had a collection of forgotten credit cards from the recently deceased at his disposal. And if he influenced the human’s mind a little, honestly, no one would know the difference. Gwen certainly didn’t as she fastened the back onto her earring.
“That was easy!” Gwen grinned, turning on her heel as the store closed behind them. She tossed the shopping bag containing her old, tattered clothes away. “Though, I wish I had planned this better. I was hoping we could match.”
The thoughtdelighted him, though he wasn’t certain why.
“I’m not sure I’m up to wearing pink, my bittersweet,” he admitted. “But I think I can manage something.”
Ambrosius offered Gwen his cane, which she took without hesitation. He shrugged off his jacket and flipped the material inside out. When he pulled it on again, the simple dress shirt he had worn had become organza embroidered with blue jade vines. The jacket now a matching shade of blue green, along with his slacks.
“How do you do that?” Gwen asked as he took the cane from her.
“Very carefully,” he responded. “Where would you like to go?”
She looked thoughtful for a moment, and Ambrosius took the time to admire her beauty. The urge to strip her bare and worship would always plague his thoughts, it seemed.
“You said you haven’t been outside of the Antiquarium for centuries, right? I can think of a place if you don’t mind a ton of people.”
“That just means more humans to eat,” Ambrosius replied, tucking her to his side with a wicked smile. “We’ll stuff ourselves full tonight, my bittersweet.”
Gwen hadn’t been exaggerating when she said there would be a lot of people.
The last time Ambrosius had witnessed anything like it, the Antiquarium had manifested on a busy street during some sort of parade. The demon had observed the humans walking by with vague interest until one of them had stumbled inside.
Now, Ambrosius was walking among them with a front-row seat to every soul that passed him by. He saw pain, brilliance, suffering, and all sorts of complicated flavors among them. Gwen must have been witnessing the same—in her own peculiar fashion. He had to lightly nudge her when she stopped in the middle of the street, eyes glowing briefly beneath the streetlights. Her hair growing in vibrancy from the pale pink of earlier.
“Sorry,” she said, quickening her stride as they crossed the street toward a series of white tents. “That woman over there is mad at her husband, and it tasted like chocolate cake. I don’t usually like chocolate cake, but this one was delicious.”
Ambrosius glanced at the woman standing in front of a Mexican food truck.
“Ah, yes, her soul’s fractured a bit.”
“Souls can fracture?” Gwen asked as they walked past.
“All the time.”
“How do they fracture?”
Ambrosius raised an eyebrow with a knowing smirk.
“Of course, of course,” she grinned, pressing closer to his side. “I’m guessing you did that with me?”
“Just a little, just ataste,” Ambrosius whispered into her ear.
“You’re making thisdifficult. We’re supposed to be on a date, not speed-running to the end of it, Ro,” Gwen grumbled with a flush to her cheeks.
“Well, forgive me, my bittersweet, but I’ve never been on one.”